Tag Archives: Clayton Kershaw

The Los Angeles Dodgers made Clayton Kershaw the wealthiest pitcher ever in Major League Baseball last week, by signing the 26 -year -old southpaw to a seven-year $215 million dollar contract.

Yes, the current owners of the Dodgers are spending money these days and I think it is great and the fans should be thrilled. It is important to sign players that you need and certain ones to build a team around.

This deal does come with great risk. It’s the length of the contract concerns me. I mean seven years? Granted, Kershaw has been as solid as they come and if not the best pitcher in baseball, he is the best in the national league. He has been a model of health and he has youth on his side. But, in this era where players seem to spend so much time on the disabled list even with all the gym time and knowledge out there, what are the chances the Dodgers get a high rate of return? Kershaw wasn’t a free agent yet, so typically you would give a multi-year deal before he tests the market at a discounted rate, but one that is an upgrade and fair for everyone. He made $11,000,000 last year, winning his second Cy-Young award going 16-9, 1.83 era and 232 strikeouts. Awesome numbers…but you couldn’t have had him for 5 years and 120-125 million? giving him maybe 17 million next year and build it from there?

Here is the structure of the contract as per CBSLA.com

LOS ANGELES – (CBSLA.com) – The Los Angeles Dodgers officially locked their ace through the 2020 season on Friday morning, making it the largest contract in MLB history.

Kershaw would have been eligible for free agency after the upcoming season if the new deal hadn’t been reached. He was eligible for salary arbitration, and those figures were set to be exchanged on Friday. He was coming off a two-year, $20 million deal that included $200,000 in bonuses in 2012, a $500,000 escalator to his 2013 base salary, and $300,000 in bonuses last year.

Below is how his contract is structured:

$18 million, payable in $6 million installments on April 15, July 15 and Sept. 15, 2014.

Salary 2014–$4 million 2015–$30 million 2016–$32 million 2017–$33 million 2018–$33 million 2019–$32 million 2020–$33 million Award Bonuses Cy Young 1st place–$1 million Cy Young 2nd place–$500,000 Cy Young 3rd place–$500,000

I mean it’s not my money right? I can appreciate a team doing what it needs to get the job done, but what kind of negotiation tactic was here! take the money!….There, should be some fiscal responsibility as well. Maybe, they could sign a relief pitcher or fill another hole if they gave him 22-25 million a year. I suppose they had to surpass Felix Hernandez contract of 7/175 million signed in feb. 2013.

Maybe, it’s just me being a Met fan and seeing how they nickel and dime everything and I am just out of the loop now. I can appreciate wanting to hold on to an ace, but since they weren’t signing him during free agency, i just think they threw away more money than necessary and could have awarded him for less in salary and in terms of length of contract.